Wipro's digital business unit to be guided by Bhanumurthy Ballapuram

BANGALORE: Wipro has tasked Bhanumurthy Ballapuram to steer a newly-created business unit, Wipro Digital, as it looks to target chief marketing officers of enterprises who are increasingly becoming decision-makers on IT spending by organisations.

Ballapuram, a MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad and a two-decade veteran at the country's third-largest software exporter, will continue to report to CEO TK Kurien. An announcement will be made in the coming weeks, people familiar with the development told ET.

Earlier this year, both TCS, country’s largest software exporter and Wipro carved out new business verticals named Digital as the outsourcers aim to win more deals in cloud computing and mobile applications as the commoditised outsourcing business comes under pricing pressure.

Revenue from the new business unit has already started flowing in even though it remains minuscule for now. Research firm Gartner estimates digital marketing budgets will increase by 10% this year from the current spend of 3.1% as percentage of revenues. "The CMO's budget in 2012 was $104 million. This year, it increases to $110 million," said a survey carried out by Gartner earlier this year. "Customers are transitioning to communicating and buying through digital channels. That means marketing spending is rapidly shifting to digital marketing." Ballapuram, who also heads the business application services division that accounts for the biggest chunk of the company’s revenue, has started placing a team in place.